Movies – Shootin’ on a 550D

So I just shot some video on a 550D today, using the kit lens and a $130 Tamron zoom (mostly the kit lens). I used a grand total of two lights, a small Lowell fresnel and a seventy dollar softbox fluoro I got from Cool Lights.

Seriously, it looks great. Far, far better than anything I’ve ever shot to this point. Once the full project, with soundscape and actual edits, is complete, I’ll put it up on YouTube and Vimeo.

In the meantime, a few impressions:

– Jesus God, it’s wonderful having interchangeable lenses. Part of the reason this is an honest-to-God step up in quality is having even $100 lenses with a f-stop of 4.

– I’m happy with the manual controls, except for the white balance. Not being able to set the white balance without taking a still is…what’s the word I’m looking for here…oh, right, crap.

– Post workflow could be a lot better. Apparently my cell phone, which came free in a box of cereal, and all my fancy audio equipment can just serve as a USB drive when asked, but Canon’s $900 camera needs special software to upload images, according to the manual. Playing with workarounds because I don’t like crapware on my computer, but still grating.

– Even though this is just a way-station on my way to the Red Scarlet, I’m happy with my purchase.